Face Jointing Wide Boards on a 6" Jointer

After commenting and following a post by MichaelJ, I decided that a picture or two is worth a thousand words. So, here’s how I do it. (I had also posted in the past another way, but I like this method better)First, remove the blade guard on your planer. Set the fence to the maximum width.Face joint the board as you normally would, until the jointable surface is flat.You should now have the flat, jointed surface and the “rabbet” from the overhang.This is the spacer board, which I made from 1/4” plywood. I also have some made from tempered hardboard.I made a variety of length, to use with different length boards. I glued a stop block on the end to keep the spacer from slipping out from under the board while planing. Place the stop block on the infeed side of the boardSet your planer and plane the rough side of the board until flat.Flip the board over and set planer to remove the “rabbet” and plane to desired thickness.

I haven’t used this on boards wider than 9” – 9.5”. There could be some tilting on boards wider than that. Maybe if someone has some wider boards they could experiment and let us know.

Mads, I only joint the board until its mostly flat, which is usually less than 1/4” I think that if the amount of wood riding on the plywood is greater than the over hang, the leverage is not enough to cause the board to tilt. That’s provided the hold down springs on your planer are adjusted equally. And actually, if the board did tilt a little, it would be flattened out when you flip it over. Just be a little thinner when you’re finished.

Thanks, I appreciate the photo series. Good description.I have heard that one heavy pass is best when you first start this operation. The theory is that once the difference between the flattened side of the board and the rough side of the board exceeds your cut depth, then the rough side will start riding up on the planer near the guard mount. Have you found this to be true?

-- Willie, Washington "If You Choose Not To Decide, You Still Have Made a Choice" - Rush

Willie, I think it would ride up on the guard mount, especially if you’re jointing some really cupped boards. If I have any that have a lot of cup, I will rip them down, as someone previously mentioned. The main thing is to just get a mostly flat surface for the board to ride on. It doesn’t have to be completely jointed, just have a supporting surface down the length of the board, to prevent the planer rollers from pressing the board down to follow the uneven top surface. You’ll clean up the jointed face when you flip the board over.